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If there’s one program in the Sunshine State that’s done more with less on the football field in the past decade, it’s UCF.
The Knights have only signed five 4-star high school prospects since 2013, according to 247Sports, but in that span have churned out 19 NFL draft picks, including three first-rounders.
Time and time again, UCF has found so-called diamonds in the rough.
One example is wide receiver Tre’Quan Smith — a 3-star high school prospect-turned-third-round NFL draft pick.
The Delray Beach native ranked as the No. 1,457 overall recruit in the country during the 2014 cycle.
By the end of his college career, Smith finished second in career 100-yard receiving games (11), third in career touchdown receptions (22) and third in career receiving yards (2,748) in program history.
Selected in 2018 by the New Orleans Saints, Smith has recorded 130 catches for 1,758 yards and 18 touchdowns in five years.
UCF coach Gus Malzahn said recruiting in the modern era with the star system isn’t a perfect science.
“We turn the film on,” he said when asked how he evaluates prospects. “I’m an old high school coach. I turn the film on and within five plays I can decide whether that guy can play or not. I don’t really look at the stars.”
He also understands that perceptions matter to those on the outside looking in at his program.
“You’ve got to deal with it from a head coach’s standpoint as far as momentum and fanbase,” Malzahn said. “It’s part of the job.”
In the times that UCF has signed top talent out of high school, it hasn’t always panned out. Take for example running back Cordarrian Richardson.
It was a signing day shocker when Richardson picked the Knights over Maryland five years ago. The nation’s No. 9 running back in the 2017 recruiting class originally made a non-binding verbal commitment to the Terrapins.
The 4-star recruit totaled 161 rushing yards in six games played as a freshman. He transferred to Texas A&M where he sat out the 2018 season. The next year he ran for 232 yards and 4 touchdowns in 11 games.
He transferred a second time in 2020 and committed to Alcorn State in the FCS but never played a game there.
While Richardson didn’t live up to the expectations out of high school, there are more underrated recruits who went above and beyond in their time at UCF.
That includes defensive lineman Trysten Hill.
A 3-star recruit in the 2016 class according to the 247Sports Composite ratings, which combine prospect rankings listed by major recruiting services, Hill ranked outside the top 2,000 nationally when he signed with UCF.
In just three years in Orlando, however, Hill transformed into a 2019 second-round pick. Selected by the Dallas Cowboys after declaring for the draft early, Hill became UCF’s third second-round pick.
UCF has served as a prime example that stars don’t always matter. With rosters mostly filled with 3-star or worse high school recruits, the Knights won four AAC titles — the most by any school — since the conference formed in 2013.
Now UCF heads to the Big 12 Conference next year thanks in part to the past success of those overlooked prospects.
Email Jason Beede at jbeede@orlandosentinel.com or follow him on Twitter at @therealBeede.
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